February 21, 2019

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) partnered with the U.S. Meat Export Federation to update a study on the value of red meat exports to domestic U.S. corn growers. The original study was conducted in 2015. In 2018, the study showed beef and pork exports used a combined total of 14.9 million tons of corn and DDGS, which equates to an additional 459.7 million bushels of corn produced – an increase of 29 percent over the 2015 projections.

Other highlights from the updated study:

Since 2015, one in every four bushels of added feed demand for corn is due to beef and pork exports.

About 11 percent of the price of corn this year will be derived from red meat exports.

Red meat exports’ impact on corn price is 39 cents per bushel (based on the annual average price of $3.53 per bushel).

There would be a loss of $5.7 billion in corn value without red meat exports.

“It’s important to continue to foster these types of relationships to continue to grow demand for red meat worldwide,” said Dan Wesely, Chairman of the Feed, Food, and Industrial Action Team. “The animal ag industry is the largest user of U.S. corn and utilizing studies that show what that impact is to the corn producer is extremely beneficial as we continue to help these markets expand.”

NCGA is taking a series of actions to do our part to help contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the economic fallout it is creating for corn farmers and our customers. Short term, this means instituting policies to protect the health and safety of our stakeholders and the broader communities we serve. Long term, we’re focused on creating solutions to help corn farmers and our customers recover from the financial impacts of this crisis.

CommonGround is a group of farmers connecting with consumers through conversations about science and research and personal stories about food and misinformation surrounding farming. Supported by the NCGA and state corn organizations.

The Soil Health Partnership (SHP) is a farmer-led initiative that fosters transformation in agriculture through improved soil health. Administered by NCGA the partnership has more than 220 working farms enrolled in 16 states. SHP’s mission is to utilize science and data to partner with farmers who are adopting conservation agricultural practices that improve the economic and environmental sustainability of the farm.